


Lost Time and Starting Anew

by hand_ler



Category: Homestuck
Genre: ;-;, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Dave Strider Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, F/F, Healing, How Do I Tag, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, No Incest, POV Alternating, POV Second Person, Post-Sburb (Homestuck), Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Strilondes, Therapist Rose Lalonde, This is probably gonna be a bit ooc, is this how tags work, no beta cause I don’t have anyone who wants to be one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26453329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hand_ler/pseuds/hand_ler
Summary: Everyone waited anxiously on the day Bro Strider came back to life, all of the original Gods gathered around since this man was considered a danger… but they did not expect what would happen on that day, not even Rose with her seer status.Instead of a villain, a monster from their imaginations, the man that woke up was confused and had clear fear of the scars that he saw on Dave's face and body.. a man who had no memories of what he had done.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Dave's Bro | Beta Dirk Strider & Dave Strider, buts all minor, there are other ships, very background - Relationship
Comments: 151
Kudos: 228





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time writing a fanfic so please expect some mistakes and plot holes here and there. Not going to say much, but please enjoy!
> 
> This story is inspired by @sintalien on tumblr!

After the cluster fuck that was Sbrub/Sgrub, the remaining humans and trolls worked together to make their new world, Earth C. Humans, trolls, carapacians, and consorts alike roam this new Earth, and while the new gods loved their work and it’s people, they chose to keep away from them. Instead they lived in desperate homes, far from the civilization of their world, for having a bond with any mortal only meant heartbreak. This was learned the hard way. 

They kept to themselves and focused on a new project now that the world they made was flourishing, reviving friends and family that they lost. The kids had missed their guardians, some were anxious to meet them for the first time. The trolls wanted a chance to reconcile and make up with their lost friends. And so they set a system, every month someone who they lost would be resurrected by the world, waking in designated quest beds. Each time, a random group of gods would welcome back to the living and grant them immortality. 

The first ones that came were the trolls, each and every one of them either apologized for their wrong doings or were met with happy tears and smiles. 

Tavros came back with new vigor to be more independent and have more confidence in himself, while he still had a few self esteem issues, he’s worked through many of them. 

Sollux apologized for how he had basically abandoned them when Jack Noir was chasing after him, the rest of the trolls each forgave him and hugs were given, much to his open displeasure (He was secretly enjoying it). 

Nepeta was accepted back with open arms, she excitedly went around to see how her friends' relationships had developed and what new romances were blooming. 

Vriska came back with mixed reactions, some were happy to have her back, Terezi, while others were not so inclined to welcome her back so easily, such as Tavros. She had been expecting this, in her time spent in the dream bubbles, she had seen how miserable she had made some of her friends, and so she personally apologized to them, no matter how awkward she found it. While she was still the same as ever, she was much more careful about what she did and said around those she had harmed. 

The next to come back was Equius, while his revival didn’t receive as much of a mixed reaction that Vriskas did, some were still apprehensive. After seeing many different versions of his friends talk with each other as equals within the dream bubbles, he was forced to rethink his ways. In the end, he made a public announcement (as public as you can get with the small group they had at this point) of his switch in mindset, no longer did he see any fairness in the hemospectrum, and he wished for all of them to be friends once again. 

After Equius, Gamzee was the next to come back. Many were wary of his comeback for they were personally culled by him, but to their surprise, not only did he come back sober, he was also as calm as he could be. While he was more attentive to his surroundings, no longer did he go around slaughtering his friends for his amusement. Once his month was up, the rest were now assured that Gamzee was no harm to them, and was their friend once again.

Eridan came back with no fan fare to many’s confusion. Instead of coming back and making a dramatic show of his supremacy, he was quieter and seemed to actually avoid certain people, namely Karkat and Sollux. After being questioned too many times about his sudden change, he broke down and cried. He apologized over and over again for what he did, he didn’t want to be hated again, he didn’t want to be ignored, he didn’t want to be abandoned like whispers of his angels had told him, so he didn’t make himself the center of attention. The rest of the trolls realized that they had done all the things he said, even before the game, they did their best to make it up to him. In the month in between his resurrection and the next, he was back to making dramatic scenes but only for fun and the snobbish way he had treated everyone before was completely gone.

The final troll to come back was Feferi, who was welcomed back with many wide smiles and hugs. But not everyone was happy, because for all Feferi's talk of equality and peace, she was still ignorant of what actually happened to low bloods and what their life was like. Determined to understand more, she had gotten her friends to tell her stories of their life conditions. The end result was Feferi apologizing for her ignorance and a more aware attitude to what happened around her.

Each of the resurrected trolls were not only given their immortality but also their God Tier and powers, for they were also once players and so they also had a responsibility in keeping their world in balance. 

The next to come were the alpha guardians and Dad Crocker, happy reunions and slightly awkward meetings were had, but all in all a lot of lost time was being made up. Poppop Egbert finally got a chance to know his grand daughter and the realities of the Betty Crocker baking empire, Grandma English apologized for leaving Jake all alone on the island, both Roxy's mom and Dirks brother approached their children at the same time, sorry for the time they never got to the spend with them and missing all their firsts. They all promised to make new memories together to over shadow the lonely ones from their childhood.

Finally the beta guardians, first came Nana and dad Egbert much to the joy of John, then came Grandpa Harley, Jade spent a long time asking him questions, then Mom Lalonde, who broke into tears and apologized for the years of alcoholism, Rose has ended up crying too. Now almost another month had passed, and there was only one person left, to which no one was excited for. Especially Dave, he wished that He didn’t have to come back, he knew now that he was abused for every inch of his life. Everyone waited anxiously on the day Bro Strider came back to life, all of the Beta Gods, and Roxy, gathered around since this man was considered a danger… but they did not expect what would happen on that day, not even Rose with her seer status.

Instead of a villain, a monster from their imaginations, the man that woke up was confused and had clear fear of the scars that he saw on Dave's face and body.. _a man who had no memories of what he had done._


	2. Bro POV-Unpleasant Awakenings and Harsh Greetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is Bro Strider, or less commonly known as Diederik Strider, and you wake up with a migraine, _What the fuck..?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are going to be kinda short! But on the other hand, they’ll probably be updated faster. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> (Criticism is needed because I want this to be as in character as possible)

Your name is Bro Strider, or less commonly known as Diederik Strider, and you wake up with a migraine, _What the fuck..?_

You sit up on whatever you were laying on, which seemed to be a large stone slab? Whatever, not really your problem right now. You sit up and rub your head, blinking to get a bearing on your surroundings-

“Don’t move.”

You snap your head up to see who had spoken to you, only to see three teenagers. You move to get off the stone.. bed? 

“I said don’t move.”

This time you see who had spoken, a young girl in what looked like orange pajamas with a sun. Annoyed by both your headache and confusion at the situation you snapped at her, “And why should I listen to you??”

The girl holds up two long, sharp, knitting needles at your response, “If you know what’s good for you, listen. Be grateful someone hasn’t already harmed you yet.”

“The _hell_ did I do to get treated like this??” You asks incredulously, seriously, what in the goddamn hell did you do to be grateful he wasn’t _fucking stabbed??_ Ugh your head was hurting too much for this. Looking at the group in front of you, you notice a few more details, the other girl had wild black hair and the boy had blue rimmed glasses, they both wore pajamas similar to the girl.

She scowls, “Doesn’t even see what he did wrong huh? Despicable.”

“I seriously don’t know what’s going on here,” you say with a frown.

“Beating up a child, your own kid no less, isn’t something wrong??” She questions him with rage. Her hands shook from how hard she was holding her weapons, anger visible in every line of her body. The other two kids had their weapons out but not in stance, they were only there for backup.

 _What the shit is she talking about? Beating up my kid?? Does she mean Dave?_ , you, Diederik Strider, have never been so confused in your whole life, what the hell is this child was talking about, “Kid I have no idea what you’re talking about. Beating up Dave? Why in the hell would I do that to my baby brother??”

Getting frustrated the violet eyed girl snaps, “Since when have you cared about him?? He’s got scars _all over_ from the beatings _you_ gave him!”

You growled in annoyance, this girl was spewing a load of nonsense, “I don't know what you’re going on about, kid! How could I leave scars on a literal baby? Never mind the fact I wouldn’t beat him even if he wasn’t!”

Something about what you had said made the girl pause, she sounded just as you were at this point, “A- baby…? What in the name of paradox space are you talking about?”

“Yes a baby! A tiny baby, that has no scars whatsoever ever!” You snapped and gestures to the height that Dave was, which was a little more than a foot.

She just stares at you in confusion, “What-”

“Look I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’ve got the wrong guy,” you cut her off, “I gotta get home and get to Dave so how about you let me go?”

“I’m right here.”

You snap your head up to see who had spoken.

“Dave..?” 

You stare wide eyed at the boy and girl that seemed to just appear out of nowhere. Platinum white hair, shades that cover his eyes, and a face that you would never forget even if it was missing the baby fat.

The girl next to Dave also seemed vaguely familiar, but you couldn’t place where. You were more confused than you’ve ever been, but the blond boy in red was definitely Dave.

And he had scars _everywhere._

“Who.. did that..?” You were more scared for the answer than anything else in your damn life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, Kudos, and bookmarks are all appreciated! Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Dave’s POV-Nasty Surprises and Bitter Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is Dave Strider and never in your 20 years of life, were you as confused and _furious_ as you were now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~! Another chapter for the day! The next chapter will probably take a little longer to write, I don’t have a clear plot for this after all. So excuse the slow writing after this chapter! 
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and support from the last chapter! I love you all!! (｡◝‿◜｡)

What the _fuck._

What the actual _fuck_ was going on right now.

Your name is Dave Strider and never in your 20 years of life, were you as confused and _furious_ as you were now. 

The man that raised you for 13 years, is sitting in front of you and claiming that no he didn’t _beat you_ for every inch of your life and that the Dave he knew was still a _baby._ Granted he can’t actually see you right now, thanks to Roxy, but he’s _right there in front of you_ and claiming that the _abuse_ that you suffered for so long _never happened._

What’s worse, is that he actually looked _genuinely confused_ and _worried_ about what Rose was telling him. As if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. 

Just as Rose was about to question him further, he cuts her off, “Look I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’ve got the wrong guy. I gotta get home and get to Dave so how about you let me go?”

At this point your anger has turned into a cold storm, and so you did the one thing everyone told you not to do, reveal yourself.

“I’m right here”

He snaps his head over to where you stood, with an expression you’ve never seen on his face, _fear._

“Dave..?”

That’s when you realized that Roxy had taken off the void space around the both of you, you were visible to everyone. You didn’t care at the moment, too busy looking at the expressions that your Bro makes, ones you’ve never seen before. The one he was making now, was one of sheer horror and concern.

“Who.. did that..?” He asks you, still looking over you, eyes never looking at the same spot, until he settles on your shades. He looked _afraid._

Your lips thin into a frown, you don’t know who this was. There was only one thought on your mind. _This isn’t your Bro. This is NOT your Bro._

He gets up and reaches for you, everyone tenses, and you take a step back from him. The person in front of you freezes, like he can’t believe that you would move away from him. He pulls his arm back and asks again, “Who did this to you..?”

You open your mouth and close it again, not knowing how to answer a question that he should already know the answer to. Roxy holds onto your shoulder and Rose grasps your hand, their way of reassurance.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, you answer the stranger in front of you, “You- you did..”

The fear you had seen in his eyes and body increased ten, maybe a hundred, fold. He stills and stares at you with nothing but _sheer horror. _Slowly, at a snail's pace, he takes a step back, then another, and another, until he hits the wall. He holds his face with one hand, and he’s sweating, like this was a nightmare he couldn’t get out of.__

He starts laughing.

_Hysterically._

Like this was some horrible _joke_ that someone was playing. Like there was no way he had been the one who had made so many of the scars on your body and your soul.

“No- no,no! This must be a joke right? I- I wouldn’t ever do that. Not to my baby brother!” He’s stopped laughing. He’s started to breath heavily, as if he couldn’t breath, mumbling to himself “I wouldn’t do that.. I couldn’t.”

You don’t know what to do. The person that was currently cowering like a scared child and the person that ruthlessly beat you as a way of ‘training’, just _how_ they were the same person? You don’t _understand._ You know damn well what your Bro did, but you can’t seem to connect that to the person in front of you.

Rose takes this moment to interrupt your Bro’s freak out, “Just what is the last thing you remember if you’re saying Dave was a _baby_ the last time you saw him.”

Bro stopped his mumbling and shifted his eyes to look at her, and gave a shaky chuckle, “That’s an easy one, kid. The last thing that happened was-“

He stops, “Was- Why can’t I-“

He’s not looking at anyone anymore, seemingly too focused on trying to _remember._

And it looked like he was failing.

He growls in frustration and clutches his head, like he was in pain, “This damn _headache-_ ”

Just as Rose opens her mouth again, Bro stumbles and collapses, saying what you think was, “ _Fuckin’ puppet._ ”

He was out like a light.

Just what are you going to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! And I hope you had a fun time reading!


	4. Roses POV-Unanswered Questions and Sibling Tussles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you are getting to the bottom of this mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here to say thank you for all of the comments and kudos I received in the previous chapter!! All of you are so supportive and I love you all!
> 
> On another note: I’ll be starting school this week and will be busier than ever! Chapters won’t be coming out day by day like it has for the last few. Thank you for your understanding!

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you are getting to the bottom of this mystery.

Bro Strider has continuously shown confusion and _concern_ of the harm that he clearly inflicted on Dave, seemingly not able to even _remember _doing such actions. He has shown no indicator of lying either and it’s making you _frustrated._ This man has hurt Dave so much, even in _death_ and yet he conveniently can’t _remember.___

As he tries to convince himself that this was all just a joke, his expression is what you would call the picture perfect definition of _fear._

You couldn’t take this anymore and you ask, “Just what is the last thing you remember if you’re saying Dave was a _baby_ the last time you saw him.”

Looking at you, he gives you a shaky chuckle like he couldn’t believe you would ask him such a question, “That’s an easy one, kid. The last thing that happened was-“

He pauses and you raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

He looks away and his face scrunches into one of pain, “Was- why can’t I-”

You frown at his reaction, could this man really not remember the last thing he did? How could this be?

He clutches his head, face still scrunched up in pain, “This damn _headache-_ ”

Tired of going nowhere, you open your mouth to speak again- but then he stumbles. He stumbles and collapses, saying, “ _Fuckin’ puppet._ ” 

And he’s fainted, well, that could have gone better.

You frown, “Puppet…?”

You’re aware of Bro Striders obsession with plush ass, but he only mentioned one… Lil’ Cal? That was the only puppet that he could have been talking about. Shaking your head, you could deal with what he meant later, you turn to look at Dave.

He is frozen, his eyes betraying his confusion and fear of the unconscious man in front of all of you. Frowning you squeezing his hand, you call out to him, “Dave?”

Dave seems to snap out from his thoughts and looks at you with a shaky smile, “Yo what’s up Rosey? Looks like we’ve got a mystery on our hands huh?”

You give him an unimpressed stare, he seems to squirm under it. Sighing you look at the collapsed man on the floor, “We need to keep him somewhere… I might have a few empty rooms I could keep him in…”

“No!”

You snap your head to look at Dave, he seems surprised at his own outburst and tries to give you a reassuring smile, “Ah- I mean- He’s my family, so I should keep him with me right?”

You give him a disapproving frown, “You are not keeping _that_ with you in the same house. What if he was just pretending? It’s much safer to keep him where I can keep watch.”

Of course you were perfectly aware that Bro was not in fact pretending, and it seems that Dave knew this too. He frowns at you, “Rose, I love you, but I can take care of myself. If the dude went batshit, and no offense to you, but I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to stop him. I don’t want him to hurt you. Plus? His reactions just now? Definitely not someone who was going to go around attacking people.”

Scowling, because you know he has a point, you protest against his words, “He could be dangerous! What happens if he does attack you? You’re going to freeze up!”

You stop yourself, you _fucked up._

He stills at your words, face carefully blank. Slowly he opens his mouth again, “Ya know what? You’re right. I’m just’ gonna freeze up. Cause I’m useless in a fight against him right? Yea, you can take him.”

“Dave- no- I didn’t mean-” you sigh, “If you really think that you should take him then fine. You can, but if I hear _anything_ about him acting up, I’m taking him away.”

Face slowly unfreezing, he responds, “Promise?”

“Yes, I promise,” you swear, “But I _am_ going to interrogate him as soon as he wakes up.”

He smiles gently at you, “Thanks sis.”

You huff and a light flush forms on your cheeks, “Just make sure someone watches over him.”

Giving you a thumbs up he walks over to Bros limp body and picks him up, you’re surprised by this since you knew how scared Dave was when it came to his brother. Dave flies off with his brother and the rest of you follow, just to make sure that Dave was alright and that Bro was put somewhere secure.

You sigh, you could already tell that this was not going to be easy at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And once again! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! See you next time in the next chapter!


	5. D’s POV-Wonderings and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is D Strider, formally known as Dave Strider, but that would be very confusing for a lot of people so you shortened it to D. And you _refuse_ to be called _David_ , ugh, gross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Been a free days but finally a new chapter! Bit short... but I hope you like it!

Your name is D Strider, formally known as Dave Strider, but that would be very confusing for a lot of people so you shortened it to D. And you _refuse_ to be called _David_ , ugh, gross.

Speaking of confusion, your mini me is flying over in the distance right now with his Bro, and from what you’ve heard of him, he isn’t exactly a model guardian. Or even an ok guardian either… So why is Dave bringing him back here?

Now, here's the thing. You’ve heard some less than great things about this dude, but you’ve also been informed that he had a weird puppet that wanted total paradox space wide domination. So you’re interested to see if he’s still the same with the puppet or if he’s a completely different person. 

Well, enough pondering, lets go welcome Dave home. 

You go up the stairs to the second floor to get Dirk, he’s probably tinkering with another robotics project. Going up to the second floor, and subsequently the top floor, you call out, “Dirk?”

“On the roof!” 

So he wasn’t working on another project… oh right. More stairs. Man you were getting old if you didn’t want to go up these stairs. Sighing, you walk up the stairs. Once you get there, you see Dirk sitting at the edge of the room.

You go to sit next to him, “What’s sup?”

“Waiting for Dave to get back,” he says. Man, he was already 20 years old and you still can’t believe it… ah no point in feeling bad, just gotta make more memories with him.

You look back out to the distance, “Seems like he’s bringing his Bro back with him..”

“He really shouldn’t,” Dirk mumbles. He seems to be stuck in his own head.

You flick his forehead, he winces and paces a hand where you flicked him, “Hey! What was that for?!” 

“You think too much,” You say, and Dirk really did think too much. You could already tell that he was thinking about how Bro, _What is his actual name anyways_ , was an alternate version of himself. Which was more or less going to lead into him spiralling down a dark hole where he questions if he was a bad person since his alternate turned out the way he did. 

He makes what seems like a pout to you, but of course he’s too careful about his image to do a full on pout, “Remember, alternates have their own life and minds. He is not you, and you are not him. And there is also the fact he had a crazy possessed puppet.”

Dirk sighs, “I know. But I just can’t help but let myself keep thinking he and I are one and the same..”

Having had enough of his gloom, you pull him into an one arm hug, to which he flinches in surprise, still not used to unprompted hugs, “You might be identical in genetics, it doesn’t mean you share one mind. Tell me, would you have raised Dave the way he did?”

“No!” Dirk vehemently shakes his head, “Never!”

You smile down at him, “Then you’ve got your answer don't you?”

He gives you a small smile in return, “Yea.. Yea I do.”

You ruffle his hair, much to Dirks _loud_ displeasure, “Well! No more moping around! Time to greet Dave home!”

Dirk grumbles as he tries to fix his hair, “Everytime…”

Standing up and stretching, “If you didn’t use a bottle of gel, this wouldn’t be a problem.”

He squacks as he follows you down the stairs, “It’s a _style_ bro!”

“Yeaa, sure it is. For an anime character,” You snort as you make it to the front door, opening it to wait outside. Dirk by your side, still grumbling about having no sense of style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the comments and kudos from the last chapter! They’re always welcomed!!


	6. Dirks POV-Anxiety and Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your name is Dirk Strider and you are very anxious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! To every single person that commented, I love you all!! I bring a new chapter today! Short chapter because I can’t seem to write long ones ,_,

Your name is Dirk Strider and you are very anxious.

Despite your bro’s earlier reassurance, you can’t help but feel a bit antsy about your beta self. After all the stories you’ve been told and overheard, you can’t help but be on guard when you saw Dave flying in the distance with Bro in his arms. 

When Dave lands, D is there to give him a big welcome home. Of course ruffling his hair too, and Dave makes a loud noise of complaint. D just snickers at his displeasure, he seemed to find amusement in both you and Dave's annoyance. 

Seeing the two of them next to was kind of disorientating, they looked almost exactly the same with a couple of differences. The main one being D was actually taller than Dave, all guardian counterparts seemed to be taller than their player counterparts, all except the elders of course. It seemed like Sakia deemed it necessary to be able to tell who was a guardian and who wasn’t at all times. When Dave had found out he was shorter than D despite being an adult he threw a fit, complaining about how it wasn’t fair. 

The second difference between the two was their scars. The both of them had a life full of fighting, scars were to be expected. The difference was where they were. While Dave had scars absolutely everywhere, including a couple of small ones on his face, D had somehow managed to avoid any scars on his face. One look at either of their faces and you could tell who was who. 

The last and final difference was how they held themselves. D held himself with an effortless type of casualness, seemingly at ease in many situations, Dave is much tenser, a forced casualness and a stoic mask pulled on when things get uncomfortable to him. Between the two of them, it was very disconcerting to see two people that looked so much alike but had so many differences. Even so, you loved them both and Dave was starting to get less and less tense as time goes on.. 

But that seems to have disappeared with the arrival of his bro.

Snapping out of your thoughts you see D observing Bro, before you can say anything he says-

“He’s a lot shorter than I imagined.”

To which both you and Dave stare at him blankly- and then Dave starts laughing. 

_Hard._

You look at him with visible confusion on your face, he was basically wheezing at this point, “What’s so funny??”

“Give- give me- a minute,” He says through his laugher. After a while it seems like he’s calmed down a bit, “Man, I don’t know what you expected! Have you _seen_ Dirk???”

You take _full offense._

“I am _not_ that short!!” You protest.

D just shrugs, “I mean- Dave has a point about that..”

“Bro! Who’s side are you supposed to be on??” You are feeling very betrayed right now, you are _not_ that short ok???

Now D was laughing too. Just great. 

You huff and cross your arms, “Is it ‘bully Dirk day’ today or what?”

And at the same time, the both of them answer, “Yes, yes it is.”

Throwing your hands up you turn around and walk back inside, “ _I GIVE UP_!”

You can hear the two of them snickering as they follow you in, you don’t care and flop onto Dave’s couch. At this point you’ve all but forgotten about your worries. Though you do look up to see Dave go into the spare room he has with his Bro. 

D sits next to you, “How’re you holding up kid?”

You give him the bird and he snickers, after a while you chuckle along. 

Taking one more look at the room Dave walked into, you wonder what is going to happen now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are love! This chapter was just fluff huh? Well I hope you enjoyed, I’ll see you all next chapter!


	7. Dave’s POV-Soliloquy and Tickle Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re once again Dave Strider, and unsurprisingly, you have a lot of mixed feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! New chapter! Dave’s POV again, little bit of angst, a little bit of fluff, have fun!

You’re once again Dave Strider, and not surprisingly, you have a lot of mixed feelings.

Coming back home and being greeted by D and Dirk had made you feel a bit better.. Rose and the others had left earlier when you had gone into the room you were now in. You look at your still unconscious Bro on the bed and wonder.. Does he really not remember? Is he pretending? Is this even _your_ Bro anymore?

You sigh, “I just wished I knew what’s going on in your head..”

Sitting at the edge of the bed you look over his face, everything was just as you remember, not a hair out of place, “So why are you so different now..?”

Logically you know that _Lil’ Cal_ (You are still scared of him, not that you would tell anyone) was influencing him somehow, “But _he_ couldn’t have changed you do much.. Right? I mean, just because you had a creepy puppet thing that told you things doesn’t mean that he controlled everything right?”

You had started saying your thoughts out loud, but there was no one to hear you so you don’t stop, “I can’t tell what’s real anymore. Is this the real you or is it not..? What was the _damn puppet_ and what was actually _you_? I don’t know anymore. There were so many times that you were so _cruel_ and I didn’t know _why_ , but there were times where you were actually _nice._ I can’t tell if those few good things were because you actually _cared_ or if it was all just a _trick_ , to make sure I didn’t hate and report you..”

Tears slip out from your eyes and you don’t notice, emotions running too wild, “I mean, I don’t even know what to feel anymore! I don’t _hate_ you, you raised me for fucks sake, but- but I- I just… can’t _love_ you like siblings should… What am I supposed to _do?_ ”

You finally notice the tears as they drip onto your pants, wiping them away you sigh, “ _What am I going to do..?_ ”

Bro shifts in his sleep and you jump, thankfully it seemed like he was still asleep. Looking down at the floor you groan, “Why am I even saying this to you… You’re not even _awake_ , and I’m just talking to myself…”

You sigh once again and stand up to leave the room. When you make it to the door you look back one more time, “... Sleep well..”

When you make it back to the common area, Dirk and D greet you with smiles on their faces. In turn, you smile back, trying to control your feelings into something more manageable. They seem to notice your struggle since they look at each other before an evil smile appears on both of their faces, “... I have a bad feeling about this…”

They turn to look at you, twin faces of mischievousness, and you start to back away, “I don’t like this..!” 

Dirk stands, wiggles his fingers, and chuckles, “Don’t worry. We’re just gonna have some fun..” 

And then you all start running.

Dirk and D are chasing you while you run from them, “This is not the definition of fun!!”

D and Dirk were cackling behind you as they chase you down, eventually leading all of you to your room, where D tackles you to the floor, “ _FUCK!!_ ” 

Dirk joins in and then the _real_ torture began. 

_They fucking tickle the shit out of you._

You try and fail to get out of the onslaught of tickles, “You- You guys- are- the _absolute_ WORST!!!!” 

Dirk and D are having the time of their lives, D remarking, “Aww, but this is _fun_ , isn’t it Dirk?”

Dirk nods along, and you screech, “ _Traitors!!_ ” 

Eventually the three of you fall into a fit of giggles on your floor, forgetting for the moment, of the potential enemy a few rooms over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think? Kudos, Comments, and Criticism is appreciated!!! See you guys next chapter!!


	8. Bro’s POV-Deja Vu and Fractured Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Bro Strider, and is this headache ever going to end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! Back with another chapter for you! This chapter was going to be longer but then the ideas I had got muddled and now we just have our regular short chapter :(

You are Bro Strider, and is this headache ever going to end?

Groaning, you sit up from… the bed? Well this is certainly different from last time. You look around and it looks like-

“Is this a recreation of the apartment…?” You say out loud to no one.

You frown before realizing that you didn’t have your shades on, it seemed to be laying on a bedside cabinet. You pick it up… and hanged it on the collar of your shirt. The headache was subsiding a bit and you tried to remember what happened last. 

“Fuck.” is all you say when you remember everything that went down yesterday. You put your head into your hands and groan, “What do I do now…? I’m assuming this is Daves place…”

You flop back onto the bed and sigh, “If this is his place, I’m guessing that the doors locked… now just what is going on?”

Digging into your own head you try and figure out your current situation. During your sleep, fragments of what you think were memories floated in your mind. The problem is, it seemed that these memories had wide gaps between all of them. There was one where you had given Dave a shirt with heart sewn on it, he looked about 5. Another one of teaching Dave how to use DJ equipment? Dave seemed to be 8 in that one. These memories weren’t making sense to you, especially since they were blurred and hazy compared to the memories you had of baby Dave. 

Rubbing your temple, you begin to dig back into your memories to find out exactly what was going on. You may have been a DJ, but you were also planning on taking computer science courses before Dave came into your life… you don’t regret it, giving up going to college that is. Raising a kid was expensive and between Dave or college, it was an easy choice. 

Somehow, you had always known that you were supposed to raise Dave, that’s why you were not as surprised as you should have been when a meteor crashed into your favorite record shop. You remember giving him a mini pair of shades that you somehow had prepared. You carried him home that day. To everyone that questioned, you simply answered with, “This is my little brother.” 

Flash forward about 3 years, and you’ve got a solid routine down. Wake up at 8 and get ready for the day, take care of Dave and whatever chores need to be done until 12 pm hits. Then you headed out to DJ at a shitty bar or club, coming home at around 1-2 am in the morning. Take a quick shower, sleep and repeat.

When did it all change…?

You know when. And you are now regretting that day, it felt as if your heart had just turned to lead and it was sitting at the bottom of your stomach.

On a hot summer day, it was one of the few days that you didn’t have work that night. Seeing it was a rare chance, you decided to spend a quiet day with Dave and get a good night's rest…

Except it seemed like Dave didn’t want to have a quiet day, he was restless, stumbling around, refusing to play with any of the toys he had, and wasn’t at all entertained by anything that you did. You frantically tried to think of a way to keep Dave preoccupied, when you suddenly remembered.

You used to have a puppet that you carried everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite the shortness of it, I hope you enjoyed seeing Bro’s thoughts on his situation! 
> 
> Kudos and Comments make me more motivated about writing so be sure to do both!! (If you haven’t already with kudos of course :D)


	9. Dirks POV-Droste Effect and Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again you were Dirk, or were you still Dirk? Well that doesn’t matter, because at the moment you were staring at your alternates, very much awake, face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~! How long has it been? I don’t actually know... well nonetheless! I have a new chapter for you today! And it’s _1000 words long!!!!!_ Crazy right??? Enjoy your longer than normal chapter!
> 
> Also!! Very important!!! Read the ending notes today please!!!

Once again you were Dirk, or were you still Dirk? Well that doesn’t matter, because at the moment you were staring at your alternates, very much awake, face. 

He stared at you with a mostly blank face… But his eyes gave away his wariness. This was a weakness that all of the Striders had, without their shades you could read them like a book. Said shades were currently hanging on the collar of his shirt. You wonder absentmindedly why he chose not to put them on. 

“You’re up,” You state, because he clearly was.

He cracks a- nervous?- smile, “That’s pretty obvious ain’t it?”

It was strange to see your own face but older, especially with the amount of emotion you could see in them. Ignoring the slight unease inside your stomach, you gesture for him to come out, “Not much use sitting around. You’ve been out for 2 days, and Rose is eager to pick at your head.”

He stands up slowly, at his full height he was maybe an inch taller than you were. This fact makes you a bit bitter since that means that you were officially the shortest of the Striders, but what can you do. You lead him into the living area, motioning for him to sit down. 

“So what now…?” He asks you, still guarded, and still cautious of you.

You stare right back at him, though it was hard to make out behind your shades, “Now, I get D to watch over you while I call a certain Lalonde.”

He sits up a bit straighter at the name Lalonde, “... Wouldn’t happen t’know a lady named ‘Roxanne’ would ya?”

You frown, that was the name of Rose’s mother… and Roxy’s beta self, “Why?”

“Jus’ askin’… “ He says with a shrug, obviously trying to play it off. You could see right through him though, you could see the slight disappointment when you didn’t give him a clear answer.

“I’m going to get D and Rose now,” You state before leaving, you hear him hum as you walk away.

You find D in Dave's room, the owner of said room was also there. They seemed to be comparing and contrasting things in their own respective versions of SBAHJ. You knock on the open door to get their attention.

D looks up and grins, “What s’up?”

Carefully, you tell them the news, “He’s up.”

Dave freezes, he seems to have almost forgotten about his bro, “Did he do anything?”

“No,” You answer, “At least not to me. He did ask for ‘Roxanne’ when he learned Rose's last name though.”

Dave frowns slightly, “Roses mom? Why?”

“He didn’t say, but I assume that he knew her at some point. It seems likely since they were both guardians,” as you say this you back away from the room, “We should go see him now, can’t leave him alone for too long.”

D nods, “Not to mention he’s probably starving, how long has he been unconscious again?”

You open your mouth to answer, but Dave beats you to it, “2 days.”

“Right! Well, let's go to say hello to our guest!” D makes his way to the living area. 

The three of you enter the living area and Bro (you really needed to get his actual name, it was tiring to refer to him as “Bro” in your head when D shared that label too) was just as you left him, on the couch. 

D, with his ever present smile, walks up to him, “Sup?”

Dave is at your side watching warily, it also seems that he also noticed the lack of shades on his face. Shades were a Strider trademark so it was probably very unsettling to Dave to see his bro without them. 

Bro on the other hand, seems equally as unsettled as Dave was, it was probably due to D though. He tries to seem calm and responds as casually as he could (seems this was a shared aspect between him and Dave), “Not much, though I am hungry. I was out for 2 days?”

“Yup! Now do me a favor, I’m kinda tired of referring to you as ‘Dave’s Bro’ in my head, so what’s your name?” D asks straight up, seemingly putting off the food problem and going for the information he wanted. 

Bro stays silent for a moment and his nose scrunches up, as if he didn’t remember the last time he had to give his name, “... Diederik Strider.”

You’re not surprised that his name was just another version of your own, kinda figured since you learned the names of the other guardians. 

Looking to Dave to check up on how he was doing, you were surprised this time to see that he was looking intently at Diederik (ugh, now you have to find a nickname, saying and thinking Diederik was weird), as if he was searching for something. This didn’t last long though as D quickly moves on to slightly more pressing matters, “Dirk, would you mind making food for our guest over here? And Dave, mind calling Rose? I’ll bet she’s been itching for this moment.”

Without a word, Dave leaves the room with a nod. You think Die (yes that was what you were calling him now, maybe you should think of it as ‘Dy’ though) was disappointed, but you weren’t paying too much attention to him at the moment. 

“Hey! Why do I have to make the food?” You protest, after all, you had already been the one to check up on the dude today and inform the rest of them that he woke up.

D just gives you a snarky grin, “ ‘Cause I’m a old man, so you should do the work.”

You huff, relenting to his request, “You’re not even that old yet!!”

Hearing his snickers as you walk away, you can’t help and let out a little chuckle as well. As you search the cabinets for stuff to make a simple sandwich you can’t help but wonder.

Was this peace going to last, or would something break it forever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments (especially comments) give me motivation!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> And for those who are actually reading the notes here, I’m looking for a beta, and potentially co writer! In all honesty, while I enjoy pushing my writing abilities, I don’t actually trust myself that much with it. There’s also the added fact that I would like someone to bounce ideas off of and to give me ideas on how to continue! If you want to reach me about this, please go to my tumblr! @/lol-draws


	10. Rose’s POV-Phone Calls and Heart to Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are now Rose Lalonde, were you ever anyone else? Well no matter, you’ve been waiting for _him_ to wake up for a while now and now you were getting a call from Dave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a week of no updates, here’s another chapter for you guys! Unfortunately it seems that 1000 word chapters happen once in a blue moon :’)
> 
> This is being posted 9 pm EST, and written all in one burst, inspiration is wild.

You are now Rose Lalonde, were you ever anyone else? Well no matter, you’ve been waiting for _him_ to wake up for a while now and now you were getting a call from Dave.

Picking up the phone you greet Dave, “Hello there Dave, what news do you have for me?”

There was no answer for a moment, then you heard him, he sounded so tense, “He’s up… and he’s not attacking anyone, he’s calm… mostly.”

“Oh? Would you like to elaborate on that?” You ask, you were taking no chances when it came to this man.

“He wasn’t wearing his shades Rose, and you know no Strider, and I mean _no_ Strider would ever be caught without their shades,” He tells you, stressing the importance of this fact. Now you were intrigued, to a Strider, their shades were a form of protection. Without them, you could see exactly what was going inside of their head. The fact that Bro had felt it was ok to take them off meant one of two things. He felt safe or he was trying to show that he wasn’t a danger. 

Not that you believe the latter much at all. 

You hum in acknowledgement, “Well, that’s certainly peculiar. I’ll have to get into that when I talk with him… speaking of which, when can I?”

Dave sighs, “I don’t know. He seems so _confused_ at everything, and it’s so _abnormal_ to see him like that. Scratch that, it’s weird to see _anything_ on his face at all.”

You could feel how anxious and confused he was from over the phone, and so you offered him an outlet, “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Rose, I don’t even know where to start,” he tells you, “All I can think about right now is how he’s currently sitting in _my_ living room, looking like he’s waiting for someone to just, I don’t know, _pounce_ at him! I should be the one worried that _he’s_ going to snap out of nowhere!” 

Listening patiently, you were both taking note of his concerns and gathering more information on Bro, “Do you feel unsafe at all?”

This question gets him to pause for a moment, “No… yes? I don’t know! All I know is that the person sitting on the couch right now just _isn’t_ the same person I knew. The difference between the current him and the one that raised me is just so _different_ , I can’t even remember a time where he was this- nice?- I don’t even know how to describe this, just. More human. Yea, that’s the word. He just seems so much more _human_ now.”

You decide to inquire more about how Bro was like before, “He’s never seemed human before now?”

Once again, Dave takes a moment to think, the answer you got was both surprising and not, “Not… not for a long time...no. There would be these brief moments where he would seem almost _sorry_ for everything, trying to make things better, but the next day he would go right back to being that _emotionless statue_.”

Part of you wants to be surprised at the fact that Bro wasn’t a complete monster, but you knew, from experience, that not everything was black and white. Bro was just one of the people that was very, _very_ dark gray. Just as you were going to speak again, you were interrupted- 

“Seeing him now makes me question so many things… mostly on why. _Why_ was he so _brutal_. _Why_ is he so different? _Why couldn’t I have had a normal life?_ ”

You frown, you hated hearing Dave this upset. This was enough, you didn’t need to make him more down than the situation was already making him, “I don’t know Dave, but that’s what I intend to find out… I’ll see you tomorrow? And I’m always here to lend a hand.”

“Yeah… tomorrow is fine. And I know, love ya sis,” He sounds a bit more relaxed than the start of this call.

“I love you too,” You say back, “Goodbye until tomorrow.”

“Yea, see you.”

And the call ends.

Time to get ready to face Bro Strider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Mostly dialogue here, but Rose and Dave interactions are needed :)
> 
> Kudos and comments give me so much motivation!! Still looking for a beta reader


	11. Mom's POV-Favors and Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Mom Lalonde, also known as Roxanne Lalonde, for some reason it feels like you’ve just found that out even though you’ve always been yourself. Well that’s a thing to worry about another day. For now, you’re finally going to see Diederik again after 8 years of him going MIA before the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Here with a new chapter! And I've also just realized that I've never said that you guys could reach me from my Tumblr! 
> 
> Feel free to hit me up on @[lol-draws](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)! ik it says draws but it doubles as my art and writing blog now. Hoping the link works

You are Mom Lalonde, also known as Roxanne Lalonde, for some reason it feels like you’ve just found that out even though you’ve always been yourself. Well that’s a thing to worry about another day. For now, you’re finally going to see Diederik again after 8 years of him going MIA before the game. 

How are you going to do this? You were to tag along with your daughter of course.

Maybe you should have told Rose of your plans of going with her earlier, but you’ve been waiting for _3 days_ since the day that he was announced revived and you were getting impatient. You were not waiting a _single_ day more to see him again. You’ve heard the stories, and you’ve seen the scars… but you also know that he wasn’t like that. At least. Not when you last saw him, you needed to see him for yourself. 

Rose was currently sitting at the kitchen counter going over some notes she made. You assume that it was for the _questioning_ that was happening today. You approach her carefully, “Rosy? Can I ask you a _smalllll_ favor?”

She shifts to look up at you, raising an eyebrow, she voices her thoughts, “And what would that be Mother?”

You wince slightly at her tone, it’s one you’ve heard before when the two of you were still at odds with each other. It seems that she is quite tense… well that’s understandable but you were not letting go of this opportunity. 

“I just wanted to ask if I could join you today to the Striders… “ You say carefully, even though you were asking, you were going to go no matter what.

She narrows her eyes at you, scrutinizing you, “What for?”

Deciding that honesty was the best policy, you tell her the real reason, “To see someone… Diederik to be exact.”

Now she’s frowning, well at least she hasn’t shut you down outright, “Why?”

Straight to the point huh? Well no backing down now, “I need to see him, it’s been so long.”

She seems to sigh and slump, “Knowing Roxy, you’re not going to give up are you?”

Grinning, you perk up at the acceptance, “Nope! I’m not!”

Rose picks up her things and gets off from her seat. She walks towards the door and looks at you expectantly, “Well? We should be off mother.”

Realizing with a start that you hadn’t moved, you get into action, going after her. The two of you make it to the door, and with her help, you make your way over to the Strider household. You were finally, _finally_ going to see him again. 

It doesn’t take long for you to arrive at the building. you immediately rush to the door and knock quickly as soon as your feet touch the ground. Rose gives an exasperated chuckle, you suppose you greatly resemble your counterpart when you acted like this. Nonetheless you wait impatiently as someone comes to get the door.

“Wow Rose, you sure seem impati-” Dave cuts himself off when he realizes that you were the one who knocked, Rose was a couple of paces behind you, “Oh. Hi? Wasn’t expecting you to tag along…” 

You take a glance behind him, no trace of Diederik yet. Focusing back on Dave you could see the confusion and a bit of wariness despite his shades, “Oh I suppose I really didn’t give a call ahead of time. Well I did ask Rose when she was just about to leave.”

“Uh-huh… well come on inside I guess?” He moves to the side to let the two of you in. Rose goes in first, giving a smile and a polite hello to Dave, which seemed to relax him a bit. Rushing in behind her, you keep an open eye out for the Strider you were looking for. 

Turns out you didn’t have to look so much, the rest of the Striders were all gathered in Dave’s living room, and yours was right among them. 

They all turned to see who entered, Dirk was quiet as ever, seemingly just keeping watch, D looked like he was in the middle of trying to talk to Diederik, and Diederik himself had tensed when he caught sight of you. You note that he wasn’t wearing his shades before taking another step closer to the group, and more importantly, him. 

“Rox…?” He asks as if he couldn’t believe that you were there. It seemed the other occupants of the room had taken a notice to his tone and watched on. Not that you cared. 

You give him a soft smile, you’ve missed him, he was family and he’s been gone for _so long_. You can feel the pin pricks of tears at the edge of your eyes as you greet him, “Hello Diederik… It’s been quite a while hasn’t it?”

You know that there were many things that needed to get straightened out, but as you rush over and hug him for every inch of his life, you couldn’t seem to bring yourself to care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! Did you enjoy Roxanne's pov? It certainly was a bit of a challenge to write! 
> 
> And a reminder! You can hit me up anytime at @[lol-draws](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)!


	12. Diederik's POV-Questions and More Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Diederik Strider, no more of that _Bro_ bull, and you were so _extremely_ happy for the first time since you’ve landed in this messy situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo~! How's it going? Hope everyone has been doing fine since the last update! New chapter today, it's probably my shortest chapter and probably not very exciting but hope you enjoy!

You are Diederik Strider, no more of that _Bro_ bull, and you were so _extremely_ happy for the first time since you’ve landed in this messy situation. 

_Rox was here,_ was the thought that kept repeating over and over again in your mind, you don’t even care that you probably look like a child clinging onto her when she tackles you into a hug. Eventually though, much to your displeasure, you have to let go. 

At arm's length, Roxanne takes a moment to examine your face, “You look much older… though that’s pretty much what happens when years pass huh?”

You hum and nod in agreement, “You look older yourself, no offense.”

She chuckles, “Of course I do, it’s been years after all…” 

Cringing a bit at the mention of years passing by, you shrink just a bit into yourself, “Right… I’m guessin’ you heard about what- my situation…?”

“She has.”

You look over to see the same girl that was pushing for information a couple of days ago. Now that you could see her and Rox in the same room, you could see the resemblance between them. _Rose_ , your mind supplies for you. A distant memory of Roxanne calling about a baby comes to the forefront of your mind.

In the present, Rox steps to the side and lets her- daughter?- talk. Nodding to show you understood, you ask, “So. I’m assumin’ you’re here t’ask me what I remember?”

The rest of the Striders- it was going to be weird remembering it wasn’t just you and Dave tha shared the name- seems to have elected to keep quiet and watch what happens. 

The girl- Rose, you have to remind yourself- nods with a blank face, “I need to make sure that you aren’t lying about your memory.”

You sigh, “Would it help if I just said everything that I remember? Rox’ can fact check for ya.”

Rose raises an eyebrow, it sees her facial expressions are stuck on anger, stoic, and skeptical when it comes to you, “And why would my mother be able to fact check?”

Looking at her with complete bafflement, you turn to Roxanne, “You didn’t tell her?”

Rox shrugs, “Was never brought up”

You give her an exasperated look before turning back to Rose, “Me and your mom used to be really close, grew up together and kept in touch after we split ways. She knows everything, cause I told her everything. Up until-”

Well isn’t that just dandy, another blank, damn it. You frown and furrow your brows, holding one side of your head cause _the damn headache just got worse._ Seriously fuck this headache man. 

Roxanne looks on with worry, placing a hand on your shoulder in concern. You manage to wave off the worst of it, “It- it’s fine. As I was saying- Rox knows everythin’, up until a certain point.”

Rose seems to take this with face value, “Right. Well, shall we begin?”

The rest of them had left, giving you an illusion of privacy. Though you weren’t naive enough to not know they were either lingering or going to hear every detail afterwards. 

And so it started. Rose layed a couple of papers on the coffee table and sat down on the other side of it across from you. Time to bare your life story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end of the chapter! Tell me what you thought about it in the comments! 
> 
> Feel free to interact with me @[lol-draws](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated, especially to boost this fic!


	13. Roxannes POV-Interrogation and Dreadful Conclusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Roxanne Lalonde, who else would you be? A Strider? Currently, you were fact checking for your daughter as she questioned Diederik.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I'm so sorry, my motivation well was dry and my mind just drew a big blank on what to write. I hope you have take this short chapter and be ok with it. And please, if you have any suggestions, put it down in the comments. ___

You are Roxanne Lalonde, who else would you be? A Strider? Currently, you were fact checking for your daughter as she questioned Diederik. 

It has started off relatively easy, mostly questions circling around Dave:

“When did you find him?”  
“Where did Dave land?”  
“What was the first thing you did when you found him?”

With answers coming out without a beat:

“December 3rd, 1995. Same as my own birthday.”  
“At the record store near my apartment.”  
“Take him home, fake an adoption paper, and call up Rox.”

Everytime Rose looked to you for confirmation, you readily confirmed the facts. 

And so it went, Derik answered each and every single one of them without missing a beat. As for you, he often called you to compare notes on how to take care of a baby so you knew all the same information as him. But of course nothing was easy and Rose finally got to the point.

“When was the first time you started ‘training’ Dave?”

At once, Derik tensed and hesitated to answer… or rather seemed like he didn’t know the answer. You were very concerned, nothing should have been able to mess with his memories as a guardian, and yet here you were. He looked Rose in the eyes, you could see his wariness. 

Face set in a frown and furrowed eyebrows, he answered and said, “ _I don’t know._ ”

You could tell Rose wasn’t satisfied with this, her eyes narrowed and grit her teeth in frustration, there was _no reason_ for Derik to not remember more than a decade of his life. Lips pulled into a thin line, you decide to interject before Rose could push further.

“Asking him things that he doesn’t remember won’t help us,” You tell her.

She frowns and shifts her gaze to you, “Then what do you propose?”

You smile, working together with your daughter was still something that you didn’t get to experience all that much. You tell her what you think they should do, “Well the problem stems from the fact that Diederik can’t remember right? What if we could trigger his memory with something or certain words?”

Rose seems to take this into consideration and smiles, “That is a good idea.. Now what do you think would trigger his memories?”

You look over to Derik and hum, _What **do** I say?_

He presses his lips into a thin line and says, “Well, before you start spewing random words, let's set a timeline ‘kay?”

Attention immediately caught, Rose looked over at him, “Oh?”

He sighs, “Well first off, my memory blanks around when Dave was 3 years old.”

“That’s around when you stopped contacting me…” You say, they could not be coincidences. 

Derik takes this into consideration, “Hey Rox, remember that creepy fuckin’ doll I used to have?”

You tilt your head, vaguely remembering a puppet he used to carry around as a child. He used to throw tantrums when something didn’t go his way, “... Yes? You had real temper problems back then.”

Rose has gone quiet, she seems very interested in the story. He continues to talk, “Do you remember what we did with it?”

“We buried it.”

“And what happened next?”

“You dug it out saying that you’ll just pack it away… Why are you bringing this up?”

“Cause my memory started getting fucked when I brought out that doll when Dave was 3.”

You stare at him, you didn’t understand how this puppet had to do with anything that was going on. Rose on the other hand was staring wide eyed at him. 

“That puppet… you wouldn’t have happened to name it ‘Lil’ Cal’ did you?” She asks in faint horror.

He stares at her in confusion, “How’d you know?”

Rose sucks in a deep breath, “Of course it was that…”

“Was what?” You jumped in, the dots weren’t connecting in your mind and nothing made sense.

Her previously crossed arms now reach up to hold her head, as if she’s getting a headache from all of this. She sighs, “Just… Sit down. And Dirk?”

As the both of you sit down, you see Dirk’s figure appears at the doorway, “How’d you know I was there?”

“You forget that I’m a seer. Well that doesn’t matter, I think things are much more complicated than it seems..” She seems annoyed at whatever conclusion that she has come to. 

Rose looks over at you and Derik and sighs once more, “Well… we should begin with what happened when our session was scratched..”

Looks like this was gonna take a while...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was short and I'm sorry for the people who have waited so long for it Q-Q
> 
> Kudos and Comments give me more motivation!!! ... even if my ideas are total cliches and horribly done QwQ


	14. Diedierk's POV-Evil Spirits and Possible Solutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So. You are Diederik- ok lets stop with that bullshit. Frankly, you have no patience to do all this weird ass introduction. Right now, you are trying to process the absolute _mind fuckery_ that was your life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long has it been since the last update??? I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting! And look! _A whole 1000+ words_. I could have written more but I wanted to change perspective! Please enjoy the chapter!

So. You are Diederik- ok lets stop with that bullshit. Frankly, you have no patience to do all this weird ass introduction. Right now, you are trying to process the absolute _mind fuckery_ that was your life. 

Being one of the guardians means that just _knew_ things, but somehow there were things that _still_ manages to flip your mind inside out. What were you talking about? Well for one, there were apparently 2 other sessions of The Game that took place. The trolls game and the cherubs. Not that you actually know what they were- but they seemed to have very important roles in the kids games. 

But never mind all that, apparently your childhood toy, Lil’ Cal, was possessed by an evil cherub?? What in the world was even going on anymore. 

You hold your hand up while the other massages your temple, “Wait, wait- So you’re tellin’ me that there was some sort of evil _spirit_ or whatever inside a Lil’ Cal that was also a giant green monster thing called Lord English that was tearin’ apart dream bubbles- which is like a hub thing for ghosts???”

Dirk and Rose looked at you with sympathy as they nod that told you that you weren’t the only one who had gotten a headache over the whole timeline shenanigans. Rox on the other hand was just as confused as you were if you were to judge her twisted mouth and furrowed eyebrows right. 

Squeezing your eyes shut you sigh, “So I had a the- spirit? Soul?- of a cherub- still don’t know what those are by the way- inside of a puppet that I’ve had since _my creation_ and you think that is what is makin’ my mind into a literal mush?”

Dirk is the one who responds this time. You are never gonna get over the fact that you _remember_ sounding like him once, “That’s right. From what I know, Caliborn- the cherub- had an ability to hypnotize the mind despite the fact that his aspect was time.”

You groan, all this talk about timelines and aspects was gonna make your head burst, “Well that's well and good, but tell me this. How the _fuck_ do I get my fuckin’ memories _back_ and make my head stop _hurtin’ like a bitch_.”

Rox openly disapproves of your language, but scuse _you_ , she wasn’t the one that had to deal with _constant headaches_ now was she? Besides- it’s not like the kids were _actually_ still kids anymore, no matter how much the both of you want it to not be true. 

In the end it was Rose that responded to you, “I think the reason that you are suffering from such severe headaches is due the fact that some of Caliborn’s influence still lingers. That would explain why you are experiencing headaches trying to remember. Working together with some of the other players should result in a way to remove said influence.”

She pauses and you grimace, “I’m sensin’ a ‘but’ here.”

She, unfortunately, nods, “While we could definitely find a way to remove their influence, it would not guarantee that your memories would become clear or that you would be able to have them at all. At worst you could lose all of the memories that have been touched by Caliborn and at best you would retain your vague memories with no headaches to deal with.”

You sigh, “So either way I’m not gonna know just what exactly I did for all those years, huh?”

“That is the unfortunate case,” Dirk confirms. 

“Well fuck- if it doesn’t matter either way, guess I’m gonna go through some weird ass magic bull,” you fling your arms in the air to show just how _done_ you were. 

“Not bull-”

“Shut up Dirk.”

Rox chuckles a bit at the two of you, you would find it pretty funny too if she was bickering with her younger self. _Gog_ it’s so fucking weird looking at Dirk- but that’s what you have to live with now.

“Well- guess the rest of you can come out now,” Rose says out of nowhere. A moment passes and nothing happens.

… and then the other two Striders come from wherever their hiding places were. You don’t know what you expected. D still had his ever present smile, kind of annoying if you were to say so yourself, while Dave tried, and failed, to keep his face blank. You could tell that he was upset, his lips were pressed into a strained, thin line. 

Choosing not to point that out, you turn back to Rose, “So. How long do ya think it’ll take to figure out how to get rid of whatever it is making my mind hurt?”

“Not very long- a week at most. The most important thing to figure out is which classpects are needed to proceed with this operation,” She tells you. You know what classpects are, again- you were a Guardian, no matter how bad of one you were. You did a bit of research into classpects before- briefly with Roxanne, so you understand the basics of it all. 

“Well- aspects are the easiest part aren’t they? Heart for the soul, Mind for my memories, Space and Void to get rid a whatever is in my mind, and Life to heal, right?” You listed off the aspects you’re sure are the ones that are needed for the process. 

Rose seems impressed, which- scuse you, you weren’t a genius but you knew at least that much thank you very much. She grins, “Those are correct, but further research must be done. We can’t jump into this without a well thought out plan.”

You huff, “Well where am I stayin’ for a whole week- matter a fact. What am I going to _do_ for a week??” You are going to be bored out of your mind and you know it. Your mind always worked overtime for you to be idle for a long stretch of time. Dave had kept you pretty occupied for a while, and before that you were studying computers and the like. 

“Here. You’re staying here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment and kudos for a my fic! Until next time!


	15. Chapter 15: Dave’s POV-Surprise Decisions and Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Dave Strider and you are the master of hiding. No ninja could match up to you, even if they were made of literal shadows, cause that’s just how good you are at hiding. Or maybe that’s because of your experience of hiding. Not that you care, you totally don’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been what- two weeks? Hope none of you lost interest! I write in short bursts of motivation so it takes me a while to get a full chapter done so please don't be impatient!

You are Dave Strider and you are the master of hiding. No ninja could match up to you, even if they were made of literal shadows, cause that’s just how good you are at hiding. Or maybe that’s because of your experience of hiding. Not that you care, you totally don’t.

Everything was fine-

“Well- guess the rest of you can come out now,” Rose says out of nowhere.

Well damn, guess you weren’t as good as hiding as you thought. Then again, Rose was a seer, so that could just be her powers. You were still the master at hiding. You wait a moment to see if she would say something else but she just keeps quiet like she was waiting. Damn her seer powers.

You go down trying to keep your face blank, even if you could tell you were too tense to be passed off as calm. D appears at the same time as you do, _Huh. Guess I wasn’t the only one eavesdropping…_

Bro takes one glance over the two of you and seemed to wonder why he expected anything different. Hey, he was the one who had eyes everywhere, why can’t you do some spying yourself? He turns away from you and back to Rose, you feel disappointed for some reason, and asks, “So. How long do ya think it’ll take to figure out how to get rid of whatever it is making my mind hurt?”

“Not very long- a week at most. The most important thing to figure out is which classpects are needed to proceed with this operation,” She tells him. Coolio- a subject you actually know a lot about. Being a player meant knowing what other players could and couldn’t do and how certain classpects would mesh together. 

“Well- aspects are the easiest part aren’t they? Heart for the soul, Mind for my memories, Space and Void to get rid a whatever is in my mind, and Life to heal, right?” Bro listed off. Huh. You didn’t know that he knew all of this. Not once have you ever seen him look at anything related to the game, much less talk about them with anyone. 

Rose on the other hand, seemed impressed, which wow. You never thought you would ever see a day where Rose would be impressed by Bro of all people. Bro looks like he took offense to her reaction, if the slight frown and furrowed brows told you anything. You should be scared of that expression, it was one he used whenever he was upset at you. Yet, without his shades- _he doesn’t have his shades on_ \- he seemed so much more _open_ and _human _. Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you focus back on the conversation.__

__Rose grins, “Those are correct, but further research must be done. We can’t jump into this without a well thought out plan.”_ _

__

__He huffed, “Well where am I stayin’ for a whole week- matter a fact. What am I going to _do_ for a week??” _ _

__Bro was annoyed. Why was he annoyed?? And what does he mean where was he gonna stay?? Here of course, where else was he going to go, certainly not with Rose!_ _

__Without thinking you took a step forward and your mouth moved before you realized what you were about to say._ _

__“Here. You’re staying here.”_ _

__You take a moment to realize what you just said- _shit_. Why did you say that?? Standing there as everyone looks at you, you feel sweat on the back of your neck. _ _

__You don’t know what to do- so you do what you do best._ _

__Ramble._ _

__“But only if you want to- y’know? Like, you don’t _have_ to stay here, you can go wherever you want. But not, actually wherever- actually there’s a lotta places you can’t go. You know what scratch that- you really can’t go anywhere you want like a bird that just figured out how to fly. Ok so maybe you aren’t free to really go anywhere-”_ _

__You have to shut up because Rose is looking at you amused, both Dirk and D are trying not to laugh their asses off, while both parents (? in the case for Bro) were looking at you with an unreadable face. Wow, you think you hate that face more than Bro being upset._ _

__Finally Bro breaks into a small smile and chuckles, oh that makes him look so much more human, “Alright kid, I’ll stay here if you want me to. I wasn’t complaining about stayin’ here if that’s what you thought. Can’t stay idle for too long, if y’know what I mean.”_ _

__Oh yea, you know what he means. You’re the same, can’t ever just do _nothing_ all day. Huh. guess that’s something you have in common with him.. That’s also another thing you never thought would ever happen. _ _

__“You can help me with my projects?” Dirk pipes up from his spot._ _

__Bro looks over to him in surprise, before grinning, “Been a while since I touched anything computer or robotic related, should keep me busy.”_ _

__You feel- warm? You’re not completely sure- knowing that he was staying. Though you’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen in the next two weeks, you think you’re going to be alright._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! please leave a comment and kudos if you can! Bookmarks also help a bunch :)
> 
> You can talk to me here! [@lol-draws](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)


	16. Diederik’s POV-Days One to Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are Diederik, Derik for short, Strider and you were not running away from your problems. Definitely Not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo- it's been almost a month and I hope you guys aren't too upset that my updating schedule has slowed down so much. It is surprisingly hard to get ideas when you have a vague path to go on. 
> 
> You may have also noticed a name change... I use the same username for many things so it's very easy to find me. Unfortunately I also don't want anyone irl to find this because I'll likely be shamed for it.

You are Diederik, Derik for short, Strider and you were not running away from your problems. Definitely Not. 

It was day two of fourteen and Everything Was Fine. You had asked Dirk for some of the simpler mechanical equipment and asked Rox for some coding things on the first day. Keeping your mind busy was the easiest way to pass the time and brush up on your rusty skills. Did that also mean you had essentially locked yourself in the room you were given and didn’t leave? Yes. Did you have Dirk bring you food so you didn’t have to go out? Also yes. 

To be fair, he was completely ok with you shutting yourself away to work, it seemed like he did much the same when he was working on a large project. So it wasn’t weird at all that you had shut yourself in and no one questioned it… 

Ok so maybe you weren’t doing as well as you have claimed. 

You were- anxious would be a good description. Not having all of your memories was a pain and it felt like walking on eggshells when you were around Dave. Despite not knowing what happened between you two… you know it wasn’t good. If the blurred memories served you right, you had left a med kit for him many times in his life. You don’t like what that implies.

Taking a breath as you shake yourself out of your thoughts, you focus back on the piece of machinery in your hands. You were trying to make a robotic bird… you know why you felt the need to make a bird of all things but it seemed important so here you were. You had even searched up some crow images to get the anatomy right. 

Looking back on the code, you knew that you had a long way to go before you were done. While the shell might be done, the coding part was much more complicated. You could always ask Dirk or Rox for help but the whole point of this was to brush up on your own skills. 

Time for a bit of trial and error then. 

Time passed as you worked, the bird spazzing out here and there as well as a good dosage of codes that just didn’t work right. Dirk had brought you dinner again today and you barely gave him a glance before you were back trying to figure out how to make the bot fly without gravity being a problem…

…

Well. 

It seems like you fell asleep trying to stay up. Which is ridiculous because you remember pulling all nighters all the time when you were younger… were you really that old? Grimacing and deciding not to think about it, you look at the mechanical bird sitting on your desk. So far you’ve got movement and sound down, but flight and visuals were a work in progress. 

You were startled out of your brain storming when there was a knock on your door- or should you say door frame. It looked like Dirk had opened the door and you didn’t notice. You raise an eyebrow at him, confused on why he was trying to get your attention, “What is it?”

“Dude- it’s like. The afternoon already. Also, you look like shit,” He says to you as he gives you a once over. 

You deadpan stare at him and say dryly, “Thanks… just what I needed when I woke up.”

Now it was his turn to look at you confused, “What do you mean you just woke up? How long did you sleep?”

“More like how much did I _not_ sleep…” You mumble as you rub your eyes. 

Understanding of the statement flashes over his face, “Stayed up did you? Well you better make yourself look presentable, D wants to have a movie night.”

Maybe there was too much confusion going on, but you can’t help the way your face twists to show your non understanding once again, “Ok? But why do I have to freshen up?”

Dirk was looking at you, and you get the feeling you were being called an idiot somewhere in that head of his. He sighs when you make no connection whatsoever about the situation, “Cause you’re joining us, dumbass.”

It takes a moment for the sentence to sink in…

“I am????”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was pretty short but I hope you liked it anyways. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated
> 
> Feel free to send me asks over on my Tumblr @[lol-draws](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)


	17. Dave's POV-Getting Ready For Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave Strider here and you’re getting ready for an Epic Movie Night… 
> 
> … totally not hiding in the kitchen either- never. You were just making sure that the popcorn was perfect! Never mind the fact that it was packaged popcorn, everything had to be perfect ok??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! I'm back with another chapter!! **I broke into 1000 words :O**
> 
> Be sure to read to the end and check out the end notes!

… totally not hiding in the kitchen either- never. You were just making sure that the popcorn was perfect! Never mind the fact that it was packaged popcorn, everything had to be perfect ok??

“Yo Dave-”

You totally didn’t squeak. You would never. Didn’t happen. Never did. 

You turn around slowly and spot Dirk and you give your award winning smile, “Hey! What’s up?”

He raises an eyebrow at you and looks behind you at the microwave, “You realize that’s been going off for like. A minute right?”

It takes a minute for you to realize that you may or may not have gotten lost in your mind for a while, “Ah… sorry dude- I was just lost in my own head.”

This makes him frown, “Are you alright? You know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can always tell him that he can stay in the room, he seemed pretty content with that-”

“No-!”

You have no idea what made you speak out like that, you’ve been doing that a lot lately and it’s confusing you. Dirk looks at you as you try to explain. 

“I- I mean- D wants him there right? We can’t just send him away right? Besides he seems fine, hasn’t gotten violent or had an outburst,” you try to explain, your hands making unconscious movements as you speak, “Besides… I wanna see what he’s like… now that he doesn’t seem to remember anything…” 

Dirk gives you a look of understanding and nods. He speaks up again, sounding pretty serious, “Alright, but if you feel uncomfortable at any time- and I mean _Any Time_ \- tell me alright? I’ll get you outta there.”

You smile gratefully, aware that everyone seemed intent on protecting you from him, “Thanks man, I’ll be ok.”

He nods and starts to walk away, “And get the popcorn before it gets cold!”

“Yea yea! I know!” You wave as he goes and takes the popcorn package from the microwave. As you get things ready, you can hear Dirk go back to the living room, a second pair of footsteps along with his.

Taking a deep breath, _Here goes nothing…_ , you take the large bowl in your hands and make your way out to the living room. You try and make your face as neutral as possible, trying not to show any of the swirling emotions inside of you at the moment. 

Dirk turns his head when he hears you approaching, “Yo- Hand it over.”

You huff in amusement, but you proceed to hand it over nonetheless. Dirk is usually designated popcorn holder, with you and D sitting either side of him. As you take a seat to the right of Dirk, you glance a bit further to your own right and there was Bro. Sitting on a single seat. 

If it weren’t for the fact that _He Still Won’t Wear His Shades_ you wouldn’t be able to tell that he was wary. He was sitting still and he wasn’t fidgeting, but his eyes were moving around rapidly, looking everywhere. 

Well almost everywhere- except for you it seems. 

Why? Why won’t he look at you? What was he so worried about? What was he looking for? _Why is he so different?_

You shake yourself out of your head before you could get any deeper than that. You were fine. This was fine. 

D takes this moment to show up.

“Hey hey everyone! Excited for movie night?” He asks as he plops down on the other side of Dirk.

You and Dirk both give him silent smiles and a thumbs up. From the corner of your eye you see that Bro gives a shrug, looking at D as if he was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out… _Why would he look at D but not you? Weren’t you two different versions of the same person?_

“Wow tough crowd huh? Not a single cheer?” D says, fully knowing that this was the usual response from both you and Dirk. 

Dirk does a fake and dramatic, “Booooo- get on with the movie already!”

You can hear a soft chuckle from where Bro was sitting, and you couldn’t help but laugh a bit too. 

D grabs Dirk and starts ruffling his hair- Dirk immediately starts fighting back to no avail. You watch on laughing, forgetting for a moment that Bro was also there. 

D lets Dirk go eventually, “So, what are we feeling tonight?”

You shrug, not feeling the need for any which movie today. Dirk on the meanwhile starts listing off various movies that were probably related to irony, robotics, or horses. No one is quite sure where he got that last interest from but no one really cares. 

“What about you?”

The question was directed at Bro. Who looks actually surprised at being addressed. He blinks a couple of times before pointing at himself and making a confused face. 

D rolls his eyes, yes he still has his shades on, “No the random person behind you- _Yes you!_ ”

Both you and Dirk turn to look at him, wondering what he was gonna say.

“Uhhh…” He honestly seems like he doesn’t know what to do. He mutters something but none of you hear.

“Mind repeating that?” Dirk asks.

Bro makes an awkward frown, he probably didn’t want to repeat himself, but does so anyways, “I… don’t remember watchin’ that many movies? I mean. I know me and Rox would go see movies when we could- but we were both very busy…”

D takes a moment to process his words, “So you mean to tell me that you have probably seen, what, maybe less than 10 movies in your entire life?”

“Yes? At least from what I can remember…” He confirms. 

That. Is one of the saddest things you’ve heard. What the _fuck_? What was he doing with his life- oh wait… evil puppet. Right. 

All three of you look at each other and come to a silent agreement. You all look back at him with matching grins. He looks between the three of you, getting anxious as the silence stretches. 

“Um… What’s going on?” He asks after he can’t stand the silence anymore.

You all look at each other one more time before bursting out loud.

_**”MOVIE MARATHON!!!!!!!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you enjoy? Please leave any comments and kudos if you can!
> 
> as for what I wanted to say- I'm having a small little Valentines event over on my [Tumblr](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com)!! Check out this [post](https://lol-draws.tumblr.com/post/642416885956313088/whos-interested-in-a-little-homestuck-art-event) for details, be sure to follow me if you can so that you don't miss it!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, and bookmarks are all appreciated, but most of all, I hope you had fun reading this! More to come at a later date!
> 
> Once again this story is inspired by @sintalien on tumblr!


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